Heads & Dovetails

Being British of course Jamie and Gill have to comment on the weather which has been hot in the south for quite a while. Luckily in the South West where Gill lives it's not been too bad whilst others, particulary in the South East have been melting! Jamie and Gill share various tips they learnt or heard of over the years to help keep cool from putting your feet in cold water to opening up your att...

Jamie has been suffering stomach type cramps and tells of his search online for a natural cure and how his family nag him to drink more water! Gill and Jamie chat about how various aches and pains can be as a result of something you've been doing or not doing (like drinking water when hot!) the previous day.  Gill tells Jamie about the GillHB & Friends podcast she did a few years ago in her 'garde...

One of Jamie's daughters recently got married in the Lake District and that involved Jamie hiring a car, which he was not impressed with and taking various grand-parents with them. It was the first of his daughter's weddings for him as father of the bride and was held in a hotel overlooking Lake Windermere.  It was a small wedding, 20 people in total which these days is apparently known as a 'micr...

Gill loves the Chelsea flower show and has been lucky enough to go a couple of years ago. However reading a post on Instagram made her consider things from a different point of view. Firstly she asks, how did she get to her get and not realise that the RHS was a charity?! Jamie and Gill chat about the positives, not so positives and maybe areas that could be improved around Chelsea. They both agre...

With the VE celebrations last weekend Jamie went to see his Mum who had her 6th birthday on VE Day and she shares what she remembers of the day. Gill went down to join in the village celebrations on the green with over 300 people, sandwiches, cake, scones and a cuppa. Clive was also playing with his village ukulele band and it was freezing! It was so cold the ukulele players could hardly feel thei...

Gill starts off by apologising to listeners as they should have released an episode last week but with Easter, family commitments and time flying there simply wasn't a mutually convenient time. Jamie and Gill discuss the 'options' going forward do they do an episode once a month, stay as it is with every 3 weeks or go back to every 2 weeks? Jamie 'does a Gill' as he calls it and they decide to go...

After a busy Mother's Day being around lots of mothers Jamie was enjoying the calm. As his computer is playing up he's decided it's time for a new computer which prompted Jamie to consolidate his 'bits of paper' that he works from so he can work smarter. Gill is also having a sort out at home and tells Jamie about why she and Clive (her husband) are  slowly doing it now so that they can take their...

Recently both Jamie and Gill have both had a few bumps and potholes to navigate in life. We they start by having a general and then more specfically about the increasing prices in all areas of life and more importantly how Jamie feels ands struggles with himself over increasing prices for his students. They explore Jamie's 'catch 22' that if he had a bigger workshop he'd save time so could take on...

Gill's excited to report that 3 years on from subsidence happening on their house the underpinning and repairs have started! Jamie tells the saga his Mum has been having with a builder and sub contractors and how he's had to put a stop to the work. Gill can't sing high enough praise of the team that did their refurbishment.  We chat about the lack of due diligence people do these days (which a gue...

Having seen so many post on social media moaning about January Gill decides it's time to stick up for it! There are another 6 months with 31 days in them and you never hear anyone complaining about them. Gill makes the case that it's not January's fault that you overspent at the end of last year! This opens up the chat for Jamie and Gill to talk about money management, or lack of it these days and...

As both Jamie and Gill are into up-cycling/recycling, Gill was very excited to learn more about Jamie's new project for 2025 having seen his post on IG and watched his video on YouTube (The Worcestershire Cabinet Maker)   Jamie's taking an old, somewhat flimsy workbench and basically rebuilding it into a much sturdier one using a lot of bits that he has rescued and are in his workshop like old dra...

Jamie slipped a disc since the last podcast whilst putting his socks on and was in agony. He went to the doctor who prescribed a combination of medications that he's never taken before. Jamie talks about how he thinks doing these podcasts and chatting to Gill has really helped him change his mindset and he can now control his thoughts in a more positive way. Gill double check is he sure it's not t...

Gill gets asked a lot, how do you manage not to take on clients problems / issues?  She was pondering this question when out for one of her walks and realised that is actrually how she copes - by getting out in nature. By going for long walks it helps clear her head and gives her time to reflect. If not ime to do that it's important to create small 'gaps' between one thing and another. Jamie and G...

Jamie has completed a letter engraving project in a font the client wanted and explains why it could have been so much better but ultimately it was what the client wanted and they were happy with the result. Gill says it's the reason she asks the experts/trades who are doing something for her what they would suggest. She can then decide to take their advice or not but can at least make an infomred...

Jamie had read this quote by Sir Anthony Hopkins:  "My philosophy is: What people say about me is none of my business. I am who I am and do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. And that makes life easier. We live in a world where funerals are more important than the deceased, marriage is more important than love, looks are more important than the soul. We live in a packaging culture...

Jamie was in 'grump' mode to start with on this episode but he and Gill got talking about the root cause of it which Gill pushes back on. She reminds him that he was in a bit of grump when the festival of glass was on but that after a chat with her on the phone they had found a solution and reframed how he was approaching the day.  That lead onto them talking about the day and how some cultural in...

Gill raises the topic of the pressure couples face over their decision to not have children having seen a post on IG where a young couple, in response to comments about the sound of tiny feet, told everyone that they didn't want children and asked people not to say they would change theri minds. Jamie and Gill talk about how something personal ends up involving more than just the couple making the...

Gill has been busy learning how to weave a willow basket. She tells Jamie about how she made  several mistakes and had things go wrong like weavers snapping at the wrong time etc. or the base not looking quite as it should be on the video. She explains to Jamie how it made her think that 'failures' are rarely mentioned these days as she was posting photos of her 'mishaps' on IG so people could see...

Jamie shares with Gill that he was feeling down last week and this was compounded by struggling with some tech issues. They discuss the challenges that men, particularly younger men, face nowadays finding where they fit in the world. Which leads Gill to tell Jamie how she'd love to offer sharing her garden and gardening with someone who's struggling with their mental health or has S.E.N.D. but has...

It's all about being outside on this week's episode. Jamie's been on an adventure - to collect some fence panels he bid on some 60 miles away for his garden. He's decided it's time to clear the end of his garden including keeping some dreaded bamboo under control. He's also removing his tree house he built for George Clarke's Amazing Spaces a fwe years ago Meanwhile Gill has been on the hunt for w...

Gill and Jamie start by saying how they've already had enough of the General Election so the only time they are mentioning it is now to say they vow not to talk about it in the coming weeks!  They cover a real range of topics in this episode but typical of Gill and Jamie they are somehow  all linked. Although Gill apologises, as she seems to be doing most of the talking in this episode about her p...

Jamie and Gill are both passionate about reducing waste and sustainability. In this episode they cover a range of topics from Japanese blacksmiths to how they do what they can to reuse things but are always looking to do and learn more.  Jamie starts by telling Gill he has bought some very good chisels made by Japanese blacksmith Masters and how they recycle old iron from discarded bridge framewor...

Being British Jamie and Gill just had to chat about the weather but it had allowed Gill to get out in the garden over the weekend and Jamie into his shed for a short while.  Jamie tells Gill he really likes her new raised beds, having seen lots of photos on socila media of her making them. He says they remind him of previous times. Gill explains the reason for posting so many photos on Instagram o...

Gill and her husband Clive like to support small independent businesses when they can. Recently they spent a couple of night's away in 2 different pub type accommodation. The second one was holding a private 30th birthday event and their room right above it overlooking the glass dome in the ceiling. Consequently they got to 'enjoy' the disco lights and loud music!  Gill and Jamie discuss the dilem...

As Gill's son was born on this day she can recall every detail about day, even the weather. Jamie and Gill chat about 'time lining' and how we use specific incidences, like covid, to help us pin point when things happened and we cross reference that with other people's time lines. Jamie uses an example of how we might use things only specific to us so you might say 'no it had to be before then bec...